Fourth of July art

Are you enjoying your summer so far? Can you believe it's already July?! Yeah, me neither. But we are enjoying GORGEOUS weather, and are particularly appreciating it after having a lot of rain last month. The good news was that I didn't have to water the garden, right? :)

I love Independence Day. I love the picnics, the barbecues, the parades, the carnivals, the fireworks, the desserts, the colors... everything "Americana" to me. I wanted to stop in our seasonally neglected blog to briefly share an easy activity we did to celebrate! There's a couple of different ways to go about this project, so I'll share what I had planned out, and maybe one of them will appeal to you... or all of them!


Remember the red and blue paint I mixed up for Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish project a few months ago?


Check to see that the lid secure and give it a little shake if you haven't used it for a while (like we hadn't). It tends to separate a bit as it settles. Also, grab a paintbrush or two!

Option #1:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
  
• Star stickers

Option #2:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
  
• Masking tape

Option #3:

You will need:

• Paper or cardstock
• Star cookie cutter
• Plastic (or even better, disposable) plate or tray
  

Give your child a sheet of star stickers (is it just me, or does everyone have these lying around somewhere?) and let them go to town on a big sheet of paper. We used cardstock because I have a mountain of it, and I like that it holds up during painting projects a little better.


Meanwhile, use the masking tape to make star shapes on another sheet of paper. One of these I did freehand, and I used the star cookie cutter as a guide for the next one. Both ways were pretty easy!


Use your red and blue paints (which inevitably become various shades of purple on some parts of the paper), and paint away! You can remove the star stickers when it dries, but we chose to leave ours on.


This was a great outside activity for this Step 2 easel I found at a garage sale a few weeks ago for... one dollar! Woohoo!


Let dry and remove the masking tape and/or star stickers... it's up to you! My two-and-a-half year old had a fabulous time with this, and I loved watching her and taking pictures! I also love when I can give her a project that she can do somewhat independently, because that allows me a few minutes to clean up dishes, start some laundry... or just enjoy a few minutes of quiet! :) I don't remember for sure, but I would guess she spent at least thirty minutes, just concentrating on her artwork. She ended up having no interest in the last option (using the star cookie cutter as a stamp), so we skipped that one. Maybe we'll do that another day!

DIY Bible storybook

My husband had to be out of the house one evening last week, and at the end of a long day, I was a little tired and running out of ideas to entertain our daughter for the hour or so before bedtime. About three seconds after Daddy left, she was asking me to paint. And, I should mention -- she'd already had her bath, so MESSY painting was not an option. :) I tried to coax her into doing some coloring, even with stickers, but nope! It had to be painting! Here's what we came up with on the fly:


You will need:

• Any printed coloring pages (there's a million resources online, but we used this collection of printables about the Creation story)
• Watercolors
• A stapler or some yarn and a hole punch (later on)
  

I gave her one picture at a time, in order, and let her paint away.


What was really neat about choosing a meaningful topic (i.e., a Biblical account of creation, in this instance) was that we could discuss what each page was about. We talked about all the things that God made, and she (being the parrot of a two-year-old that she is) repeated everything. I love these little opportunities to sow seeds of truth into her mind!


I realize this picture has nothing to do with her craft, but I couldn't help adding this cuteness in! This is her little security blanket that she's long been attached to, and she kept it right next to her the whole time. So sweet... and I'm pretty sure I might cry one day to look back on the little details like this.


When your child's pictures are dry, staple them all together to make a "book." You could also punch holes in the side and thread yarn through. I considered cutting out the picture and text to glue them all onto colorful pieces of construction paper, but realistically, I know this isn't the most durable of "books," so we went for the option of conserving our resources. :) If your child creates something that you really want to save, it might not be a bad idea to have the pages laminated, or seal them onto some cardstock with clear contact paper.


The last step... read the story with your child! :)

Coffee filter butterflies

Here's a super quick craft, using a household supply almost everyone has on hand!


You will need:

• Disposable coffee filters
• Paints (my daughter wanted to use Do-a-Dots, but watercolors would work fabulously here!)
• Pipe cleaners in any color (twisty ties that come in boxes of garbage bags would work here as well!)
• Newspaper... not pictured, but I quickly discovered this was a necessity! :)
  

Spread out a coffee filter.


Line some newspaper underneath and let your little one paint away!


The dot paints dried VERY quickly, and we were able to make a "butterfly" using our pipe cleaners in no time at all. Just scrunch the filter up in the middle, wrap a pipe cleaner around it (you don't even need a whole one), and twist at the top for the "antennae."


Happy springtime!

Mother's Day project: watercolor flowers

Oh, Mother's Day. Why do you always sneak up on me so quickly?

I've been in the habit for the past two years (as long as I've been a mother) of having my daughter participate -- in whatever ways she's been able -- in creating a gift for the special moms in our family. There are four that we honor each year: her two grandmas, her great-grandma, and her biological mom. (Check out my mommy blog for more if that last one threw you for a loop! :)

I love having something for each of these special moms, and I especially love that my daughter has a part in whatever we do for them. It's nothing "amazing," but it's from her, and that makes it amazing.

This is the project we completed (times four) this year. Plan ahead with this one! We worked on it a little at a time over the course of about a week.


PHASE ONE -- You will need:

• Watercolors
• Paper
  

Let your little one paint, paint, paint to their heart's content!


This was my girl's first experience with watercolors, and she L-O-V-E-D it.


My wish-I-had-thought-of-that-sooner tip? Use a clean medicine dropper to add just a tiny amount of water to each paint tin. This eliminates the need for a cup of water (if you don't mind the color mixing, which at two, is inevitable anyway) -- and the equally inevitable spillage.


Allow the masterpieces to dry. :)


When dry, cut flower shapes out of the painted papers. I used a cookie cutter, because as I've said, I'm not an artist in any way, shape, or form. If you have even a SHRED more artistic ability than I, you could very likely manage without tracing. :)


PHASE TWO -- You will need:

• Paint samples
• Scrap cardboard (poster board, cardstock, construction paper... it would all work. You're just looking for something a bit thicker than regular paper.)
• Glue
  

Cut up some paint samples.


And have your flowers cut out and ready.


I used a scrap of cardboard I had to draw these little flower pot shapes. Yes, I actually drew these myself! Be proud! :)


Lay out some of the paint sample squares/shapes for your child to choose from...


...and have them glue the squares onto the "flower pot" to create a "mosaic" of sorts. Allow to dry. You might want to put a heavy book on top of these as well, if you're bothered by the paint samples curling up.


PHASE THREE (I told you it was a long project!) -- You will need:

• Colorful paper
• Green pipe cleaners
• Glue
• Scissors
• Your pre-assembled flowers and flower pots
  

Cut the pipe cleaners to whatever length you want the flower stems to be and glue onto the colorful paper.


Glue flowers on the stems. Silly me... I thought this was the bottom of the flower, but my daughter decided that it was the top. Heh.


Add as many flowers as you like...


...and then glue the flower pot to the bottom of the stems.


Here's her finished projects! A "quick craft" it's not, but they're cute and something totally different from what we've done before. I mean, really... how many handprint molds can one person have? :)

I tried to snap a few pictures of her holding each one of these for each of the recipients. And, I might have mentioned... she's two. I really wish Tylenol hadn't recalled all their products last week, because I was sorely needing some medication after that experience.

Sponge painting

Super easy, and super quick! This is another one of those "fall back" ideas that can fill up five minutes... or an hour! :)


You will need:

• Sponges, of course! If you have fun shapes, use them! If not, any old sponge will do... or cut up a sponge you are done with and make your own shapes!
• Paper
• Washable paint
• Paper plate
  

I like to use paper plates for paint trays because the clean up is so easy! Dab the sponge in your paint and then onto the paper.


Not a whole lot of explanation needed on this one! :)


We did primary colors in various shapes.


We also did a bit of color mixing at the end.


My daughter decided on her own to "count" her shapes and tell me about each of them. Besides counting, we talked about their shapes and their colors.


Another bonus... it dries fairly quickly!

Do-a-Dot Art!

Okay, this probably falls under the category of "Things Everyone Else in the Entire Universe Has Been Doing for Years," but I've just recently discovered Do-a-Dot paints, and I am in LOVE! I know I mentioned them once before, but since my girl just received hers over the weekend in her Easter basket, we are just now trying them out.

What I LOVE about these paints is that... they are so clean. I can actually let my two-year-old paint WITHOUT fearing that I'll end up spending her whole naptime cleaning up the aftermath. The whole "dot art" thing is so fun, but from a mom's perspective, I am seriously loving how low-maintenance these things are!


You will need:

• Do-a-Dot paints {Note: You can buy these online - see link above - but I purchased our set from Michael's and used one of their regular 40% off coupons. It was a bit cheaper doing it this way... about $10.}
  
• Any dot art printable or coloring page {Note: There are a hundred million places online to print dot art for FREE... don't feel like you have to buy the special coloring books unless you want to. One of my favorite blogs actually has a ton of educational printables that go with Do-a-Dot paints.}
• Construction paper or cardstock
• Scissors and glue... which I forgot to put in the picture :)
  

We started with green for the leaves of our tulip.


At two, she doesn't necessarily stay in the "dots," but who cares? She's having fun! :)


She chose purple for the flower.


When it dries, cut out your shape and glue to the construction paper. Lovely spring artwork!

This activity gets two thumbs up... from mom and toddler! :)